LexisNexis pulls three services offline after suspicious server activity

LexisNexis took its Diligence, Metabase API, and Newsdesk services offline last week after detecting unusual activity on servers managed by a third-party vendor. Non-public customer communications revealed the company took this action to protect customers and contain the issue at its source. LexisNexis president Todd Larsen stated that the decision was necessary to ensure the integrity of their environment and protect customers and data while the investigation continues.

The firm is working with a leading cybersecurity forensic firm on review and remediation. Customers reported the outage began on Wednesday and persisted until the weekend. Diligence returned over the weekend, while Newsdesk and Metabase API were expected to come back online over the course of the day, subject to successful testing.

Some customers are considering seeking compensation from LexisNexis for the service disruption, as businesses pay significant amounts annually for these services. The outage was not connected to a critical SQL injection flaw disclosed by Metabase on August 6, which has already been linked to a breach at laptop maker Framework. LexisNexis did not disclose whether any data was compromised during the outage, but their Legal & Professional division was previously breached in an incident involving the Fulcrumsec group.